


A Chat With A Renegade

by Psyga315



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire & Related Fandoms, Bridge to Terabithia - Katherine Paterson, Hunger Games Series - All Media Types
Genre: Crossover, Gen, Interrogation, Just Mentions Of The Fandoms, Leslie Doesn't Die, Multiversal Crossover, Multiverse, One Shot, Short Story, Strangulation, spoilers in the tags
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-04
Updated: 2015-09-04
Packaged: 2018-04-19 01:29:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,013
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4727639
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Psyga315/pseuds/Psyga315
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jason Troy has received word that his group, Zyguard, had just arrested a criminal by the name of Nicholas the Renegade, notorious for killing a king and helping a rebellion. Jason decides to interrogate Nicholas to find out one thing.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Chat With A Renegade

**Author's Note:**

> So before we begin, this is all based off an idea of a fan fiction I was thinking of writing, but deciding that it's too big in scale to write as is. One of the ideas was that there's a federation devoted to protecting the Multiverse from getting screwed over by traveling villains named Zyguard.

“Where’s the prisoner?” Jason walked down the halls as a guard began to talk to him about the situation at hand.

“He’s held in the interrogation chamber, just like you asked.” He said. Jason nodded.

“Alright. Good. Have some troops ready in case this becomes ugly.” Jason said.

“Sir?” The guard asked. The two stopped right at the door. Jason peers into the blurry window as he sees a man inside the room. The room was filled with featureless gray tiles and ceilings. The only remarkable feature was a silver table, two cyan folding chairs, and the walls containing nothing but two-way mirrors.

“I feel like me and him are about to butt heads.” The guard backed away as Jason pulled the door open. He entered the room and looked at a man with brown hair and eyes. His blue shirt and jeans were soaked in water. Jason looked at the man’s cuts and bruises.

“My apologies for the wounds. Our men can get a little trigger happy.” Jason sat down on a chair. He noted how tightly bound the perp’s hands were tied behind the chair. He sighed in relief.

“So pretty much like every military unit.” The man muttered.

“Zyguard is a Multiversal Protection Agency. Our goal is to prevent people like _you_ from going around and meddling.” Jason said.

“Meddling… That’s a fun word you lot like to throw around. A catch-all term for when people don’t want to do things your way.” The man chuckled. Jason glared. While the man can’t harm him, his jeers will do the job for him. Fortunately, he had a comeback.

“Well, our way doesn’t involve murdering children.” Jason said.

“Once. It was one time, and it was one child.” He said.

“Even so, the stunt you pulled in Westeros had caused word to spread like wildfire. People now look to you as Nicholas the Renegade, murderer of the child-king.” Jason said. Nicholas chuckled.

“You’d be amazed to know how many people have wished to do what I had done.” He said.

“I assume quite a bit would want to experience that power fantasy you had.” Jason said. He laid his arms on the table and propped his hands up to act as a stand for his head. “But now your little fantasy is over. It’s time to go home.” Jason said.

“So… Why are you having me tied up? Why aren’t you deporting me like every other criminal you arrest?” Nicholas asked.

“I want some information.” Jason said.

“Go ahead. I know jack and squat.” Nicholas said.

“No. I want an idea of what you’re aiming for. People have said you’ve killed Joffrey, but none wish to elaborate on _why_. So why? Why kill Joffrey?” Jason asked.

“Because he’s a tyrant. Better to strike a man down before his prime than let his rule taint others.” Nicholas said.

“There should be more to the story. I know it. One doesn’t simply march into a public execution and outright assassinate a king _before_ he would even _become_ a tyrant.” Jason said.

“So you admit that Joffrey would have been cruel.” Nicholas said.

“I’ve seen many iterations of Westeros to confirm that, yes. That tends to be part of our training in Zyguard. Learning the timelines of different worlds to get a grasp of things when a meddler comes and shakes things up.” Jason said.

“So you would know why I killed him.” Nicholas said.

“It was the execution, wasn’t it? You could have killed Joffrey at any time, but you chose instead to kill him before he would take another’s life. That confirms it. You were trying to save whoever was about to be executed.” Jason said.

“You know how Westeros works out, yet you don’t know who I saved?” Nicholas muttered.

“I briefly skimmed the timeline. I know it was a Stark he executed.” Jason said.

“A good man, I’ll add.” Nicholas said. Jason relaxed in the chair and nodded.

“You weren’t out to kill Joffrey. You were there to save his life.” Jason said.

“Joffrey just got in the way and I figured, ‘screw it, I could do it’.” Nicholas said. Jason smiled briefly. Though it was only briefly.

“I admire your motive, but a murderer is still a murderer.” Jason glared.

“Guilty as charged.” Nicholas said.

“You’ve been having this anarchist streak going. Next place you hit up was Panem.” Jason said.

“Come now, guess. If I killed Joffrey when I was saving Ned, what would I be doing in the Capitol?” Nicholas asked.

“Helping out a terrorist organization. District 13’s become a thorn on our side because of you.” Jason said.

“I didn’t expect them to recreate the Gummi Blocks to insert them into their VTOLs.” Nicholas rolled his eyes. “Besides, they weren’t a terrorist organization. They were a rebellion.” Nicholas said.

“A group of people who band together and attack people to overthrow a government is what I’d label as a terrorist organization. Even if they have the best of intentions and are seen as a beacon of hope, all it takes is a power-hungry monster to lead them into becoming a nightmare.” Jason scowled.

“Well, someone’s awfully salty. Tell me, did I touch a nerve?” Nicholas asked. Jason froze as images began to appear in his head.

A man behind a mask. His cape bellowing in the wind as his group stood behind him. Jason was one of these people in the group, listening as the costumed man spoke a phrase that would haunt him to this day.

“Ever seen their yearly event?” Nicholas snapped Jason out of his concentration.

“The Hunger Games, right? I admit, it’s a little extreme, but it’s worked in quelling the people for three quarters of a century.” Jason said.

“A little? Oh, don’t be a naïve idiot! Anyone with half a brain can know that the plan of murdering twenty-three children on a yearly basis is bound to cause some trouble. They should have taken notes from Japan on how to _really_ quell riots.” Nicholas said.

“The hell happened in Japan?” Jason nearly fell out of his chair. Nicholas raised his eyebrows as he saw Jason look to him with concern instead of distain.

“… Battle Royale? You know of it?” Nicholas asked. Jason sighed and slumped back to his chair.

“Oh, thank God…” Jason said.

“You’re really getting thrown off, aren’t you?” Nicholas smirked. All he had to do was find the button and push it hard.

“Focus! Is the Hunger Games why you allied with the terrorists?” Jason asked.

“Yes!” Nicholas said. “You know, for a group of people that dedicate themselves to protecting people, you sure seem to just sit back and let all these people have their way. To think, with all the technology you guys have, _you_ could have stopped Panem from even _conceiving_ the Hunger Games in the first place. Instead, you twiddled with your thumbs and did _nothing_ but let these dictators kill innocent people. Even the armies in _my_ world knew that they should use their manpower to stop such a man from doing that. So tell me, who’s the _real_ terrorist? The people doing something about their situation or the guys who watch their despair from a distance and just comment on it?” Nicholas grinned. He knew just from watching Jason’s face shift into an almost monstrous expression of rage that his words _hurt._

But not as much as his neck would feel as Jason lunged from across the table and throttled it.

“I’M NOT A TERRORIST! I DON’T KILL PEOPLE TO GET MY WAY!” Jason shouted at Nicholas as he choked for air. “I DON’T MURDER PEOPLE AND USE THEM AS SCAPEGOATS FOR MY ULTERIOR MOTIVES! I DON’T VALUE MY FRIENDS AS PAWNS! I AM NOT LIKE HIM AT ALL!” The doors opened as two guards held back Jason and broke him away from Nicholas. Nicholas’ eyes widened as he repeatedly breathed. He trembled as his chair tipped over. He fell onto the ground as he was reduced to a crying mess. However, he wasn’t the only one.

Jason cried also. The guards sat him at the chair before he waved his hands. They went away and the door closed. The two of them spent a brief time catching their breaths and calming down. Jason looked at himself in a two-way mirror. He shook his head, muttering the last sentence: ‘I’m not like him at all.’

“I turned myself in, okay?” Nicholas said.

“W-what?” Jason said.

“You didn’t know that? I _let_ myself get caught. It was a trade.” He said.

“For what?” Jason said. He suddenly remembered. Just prior to being informed of Nicholas’ arrest, a group of troopers brought in a girl who nearly drowned. It didn’t take a genius to put two and two together. “… The girl.” Jason said. Nicholas nodded. Jason went over and helped the chair up, though he frowned as Nicholas tried his hardest to squirm away from him.

“Reports mentioned that you were in a world that I’d find odd. There’s no clear difference between that world and your world of origin. Just regular everyday life. You were out in fantasy realms and post-apocalyptic dystopias. So why did you choose that world? Was it because of the girl?” Jason asked. Nicholas nodded. “…” Jason simply sat as Nicholas spoke up.

“Her name was Leslie Burke. Had I not been there, she would have drowned in a creek shallow enough to walk in. I tried to save her… I honest to God tried…” Nicholas began to cry again. “I didn’t know CPR. And when your men came to arrest me, I _knew_ they wouldn’t give a fuck for her and just let her die! So I had to force them to with an offer they can’t refuse.” Nicholas said.

“Your arrest for her survival.” Jason said.

“Exactly! And she would have died if it wasn’t for me, a meddling kid!” He chuckled through his sobs. Jason stood silent for a minute before he unbound Nicholas. “H-huh? What are you doing?” Nicholas asked.

“Freeing you. When I first heard of you, I could think of nothing but how evil you were, never once thinking of the motives. When the battle at the Capitol began, all I could feel was hatred to you. But you chose to sacrifice your freedom to save a girl. A random girl from a random world. You weren’t out to kill someone or stop an execution. You were simply trying to save a life. I want you to do _more_ of that. No more killing.” Jason said.

“You’re letting me go? Like that?” Nicholas said.

“No. I’m gonna monitor you, mentor you, guide you. Think of it like… probation mixed with school.” Jason said.

“So I’m a member of the Procrastination Squad. Yaaaay.” Nicholas said.

“No… You have a point. We haven’t focused our time in helping people like we said. But only because we’re more busy stopping people from ruining other worlds. Sure, we _could_ stop Joffrey and Snow from ruling their nations, but our duty falls more in stopping Coin from taking over worlds that she doesn’t even exist in. Besides, considering who _helped_ her do just that, I feel like this is akin to… counting up your sins.” Jason said. He got up and left. Nicholas stood there, stunned.

“Where did you hear that phrase?” Nicholas asked.

“It’s been long ago. I wasn’t always a member of Zyguard. I was once a traveler like you. I went to many worlds and experienced many things. And I’ve learned a lot in my life. Those words came from an old detective I was on the run from. While I live by those words, there’s another phrase that I will remember until the day I die.” Jason asked. “One that I will practice to this very day. One that I encourage _you_ to practice too.” Jason began to walk out as the memories played of his time with the masked man.

“'The only ones who should kill, are those who are prepared to be killed.”


End file.
